Home For Christmas
by SerendipityAEY
Summary: Phillip comes home for break and finds something of a surprise. *Added a small second part.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Home for Christmas  
  
Author: Ashley  
  
Rating: G  
  
Summary: Just pure fluff, though probably a little different than usual. Phillip comes home for Christmas break after his first semester at college and finds something of a surprise.  
  
Author's Note: My original character, Liz, is in this story. If you'd like to read more about Liz, check my other stories, "C'est la Vie," "Forever," and "Holding Hands" on FF.net. Thank you, Cheryl, for your beta skills and, most of all, your support from start to finish. Thank you, Miriam for your hard work and all your suggestions, I really appreciate it. And thank you, Lorna, for your great last minute suggestions.  
  
Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon enterprises. This story is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement of rights is intended.  
  
Feedback: All feedback is welcome, on or off list.  
  
Archive: With other Christmas stories on smkfanfic and Pam's site, otherwise ask first.  
  
  
  
Eighteen-year-old Phillip King threw open the door to his parents' recently purchased Rockville house. Part of his urgency was due to the cold wind of mid December, but mostly he was happy to be home from college for Christmas break. He'd been back to visit on and off during the semester, but hadn't actually slept in his bed since September.  
  
As he plowed inside, Phillip barely missed running into his stepfather. Lee's coat, and the car keys in his hand, indicated he was on his way out.  
  
"Whoa, there!" Lee grasped his shoulder, keeping Phillip from falling back, and pulled him into a hug.  
  
"Hey, Lee."  
  
"Phillip, welcome home." Lee grinned. " How were finals?"  
  
"Fine," Phillip answered with a shrug, then quickly changed the subject. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm going out to warm up the car. Your mother and I need to run to the store. You need anything?"  
  
"Nah." Phillip turned and raced up the stairs. He was eager to deposit his duffel bag and take possession of his room.  
  
"Okay," Lee answered. "Uh, Phillip. . ." he called out, but Phillip was already at the top of the stairs.  
  
Sliding his bag from his shoulder to the crook of his arm, he opened his bedroom door. What he saw was the last thing he had expected. Dropping the bag with a thump, he pursed his lips in a scowl and narrowed his eyes. No matter what he did, he just couldn't get away from Liz Jones. She was a pain at school -- always doing things so. . . perfectly. And now, here she was, in his house, in his room, in his bed, for God's sake. Suddenly, Christmas break wasn't looking to be so great after all.  
  
As if sensing his thoughts, the sleeping figure in his bed turned from him to face the wall and snuggled deeper into the comforter, her long blonde hair fanning out over the quilted surface.  
  
The fact that she seemed so comfortable in his bed only made him more upset. He pivoted and stalked from his room, not bothering to close the door, and then stomped down the stairs.  
  
"MOM!"  
  
"I'm in the kitchen," his mother's voice rang out.  
  
"Mom . . . There's a girl in my bed . . ." he complained as he entered the kitchen.  
  
Amanda looked up from a baking sheet covered with her last batch of Christmas cookies. "Hey, that's no way to say hello to your mother. " Stepping forward, she put her arms around him. He heard her mutter under her breath, "I swear if you pick up any more of Lee's bad habits . . ."  
  
After returning the hug, Phillip stepped back, frowning, his hands resting on his hips. "Okay, hello. Now, what's Liz doing in my bed?"  
  
"You sound like one of the three bears, all grumpy that Goldilocks is in your bed," Amanda teased. He refused to smile, and she continued, more seriously, "Honey, Liz isn't feeling well. I told her to go lie down."  
  
"Does she have to lie down in *my* bed? Why is she here, anyway? Is she staying here?"  
  
"Phillip," Amanda admonished him. "Yes, she's staying here. Since her grandmother passed away, she doesn't have anyone else. We're the closest thing she has to family now, and I expect you to act like it."  
  
Phillip wrinkled his nose in distaste. He was doing just fine without a 'sister'. Especially one that was so good at everything.  
  
His mother turned toward him, pinning him with her gaze. Suddenly uncomfortable, he stared down at the floor.  
  
"She doesn't have anywhere to go, Phillip."  
  
His head shot up, and he thrust his chin in the air defiantly. "She has her own house -- a whole house!"  
  
"There isn't anyone there that she cares about. She wants to be here, and we're happy to have her."  
  
***  
  
"Well, at least most of you are," Liz said from the kitchen doorway.  
  
"Liz, you're up." Amanda smiled.  
  
"Yeah, someone was making a lot of noise and left the door open so I could hear every word of it."  
  
"It's my door; I can leave it however I want it. . . "  
  
"No, it's my door." Amanda finished sliding the fresh baked cookies off the sheet and onto a cooling rack and put down her spatula. "Now, Lee and I are going to the store. I trust you two won't kill each other while we're gone?" She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and gave them each a stern, but motherly, look.  
  
Liz nodded slightly and noticed Phillip doing the same.  
  
"Oh," Amanda said, turning back for a moment as she left the room. "Phillip, your father called. He wants you to call him back."  
  
"Okay," Phillip acknowledged. He made a face at Liz once his mother was out of sight.  
  
Liz rolled her eyes as he turned away from her.  
  
Sitting down at the kitchen counter, she snuck a Christmas tree shaped sugar cookie from the cooling rack. As she nibbled on the treat, she watched Phillip as he quickly dialed a number and waited for someone to answer. "Dad? Hi, it's me. . . Yeah. . . Good." She shifted her attention to the morning newspaper sitting on the kitchen counter. Sounded like an average, boring conversation to her.  
  
When Phillip had said nothing for more than a few moments, she looked up again. The grin he'd had on his face when the conversation started was now gone. As she watched him, his face fell even more.  
  
"Why?" he asked softly. "Oh . . . okay . . . yeah, bye." He hung up the phone, replacing the handset in the cradle with a bang.  
  
"What was that about?" Liz asked cautiously.  
  
Phillip looked startled at the sound of her voice, as if he had forgotten she was there at all. "Uh, my dad. . . we had plans, but he says he has to leave the country. Business. He won't be back until after Christmas."  
  
"Oh," Liz answered. Hesitantly, she added, "I know how that feels."  
  
He looked up to meet her eyes. For a moment it seemed he was going to say something else, but he simply turned and left the room.  
  
She sighed to herself. Maybe it was a bad idea to stay here. This had been her refuge when her father died, but she had soon tired of constantly being under Lee and Amanda's watchful eyes, and had wanted to go home. Now, . . . now she didn't really have a home. Yes, she had inherited a big house when her grandmother died, but she had come to DC to go to school, so she could get away. She didn't plan on going back to Richmond; she had no emotional ties there. Amanda and Lee were the closest she had to family anywhere.  
  
***  
  
From the kitchen window, Phillip watched Liz shoot another basket. Suddenly, he wanted to talk to her. Normally, she just seemed like a thorn in his side. But the way she'd looked at him when he'd told her about his dad -- he really believed she knew exactly how he felt. He opened the kitchen door and headed toward her. "Hey."  
  
Liz nodded in return and shot another basket.  
  
"I thought you were sick?"  
  
Liz caught the ball as it bounced toward her. "I have a little cold. I'm not incapacitated.  
  
"If you have a cold, you shouldn't be out here . . . in the cold. It's not good for you," Phillip said in his best fatherly tone.  
  
Liz rolled her eyes. "Okay, mommy." She carefully aimed the ball, and it once again swooshed easily through the net.  
  
Dropping the subject of Liz's health, Phillip caught the basketball before it hit the ground. He threw it roughly to her. "Remember the last time we played ball?"  
  
Liz caught the ball against her chest. "Yeah," she smiled, "you still owe me ten bucks."  
  
Phillip smiled back. Suddenly, he didn't mind her being there.  
  
The tension was broken, and he and Liz fell into an easy rhythm of alternately shooting the ball and retrieving it.  
  
"That was right after your father died, right? When you were here last?" Phillip shot the ball.  
  
"Yeah," Liz answered simply.  
  
"Were you close?"  
  
She caught the ball as it bounced toward her. Cradling it in her arm, she seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "I wanted to be. But he was always away."  
  
There it was, that look again. Somehow it gave Phillip the courage to talk about his own father.  
  
"Yeah, me too. I mean my dad lived in Estoccia most my life. He's here now, but he still travels a lot." They stood for a moment, and Phillip noticed she hadn't moved to shoot the ball again. He was sure she was getting tired, and he was sure she wouldn't admit it.  
  
He ducked his head toward the picnic table. "Let's sit down."  
  
They perched on top of the table, and she asked, "Is that where he's going now? To Estoccia?"  
  
"Yeah, some emergency or something. He probably won't be back until January."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Hey, it's okay." He shrugged. "I'll see him in January.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Phillip studied his hands, clasped in front of him. He cleared his throat. "Listen, I'm sorry about getting upset earlier. It's cool if you stay here."  
  
Liz smiled. "Thanks."  
  
As she looked at him, Phillip realized that he had never noticed how blue her eyes were. Suddenly, two short honks sounded from the front of the house, ending the moment. "Those are my friends," he said, hopping off the table.  
  
"Okay, I should go in." She nodded.  
  
"See ya."  
  
"Yeah, later."  
  
***  
  
It was almost midnight when Phillip returned to a dark and quiet house. Closing the door behind him, he locked it and set the alarm. He was just starting to go up the stairs, when he heard a rustling in the den. Unable to resist checking it out, he quietly crept into the room and stopped a few feet from the couch.  
  
Tiny colorful lights from the Christmas tree in the corner cast a festive glow around the room. On the couch, Liz turned, kicking the blanket halfway off her legs and ending up on her stomach. "Hi," she mumbled into her pillow.  
  
Phillip laughed quietly. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Sleeepping . . ." She drew the word out, implying the answer should be obvious.  
  
"Oh." He smiled. "Why didn't you pull the bed out?"  
  
She sat up halfway. "Are you kidding? That mattress is much worse than the couch."  
  
"I wouldn't know."  
  
Liz frowned. "I'm gonna help Lee and Amanda finish the room downstairs this weekend so I can stay down there. I told them not to bother, but they insisted they'd been planning on fixing up a guest room forever." She sneezed, then reached for a Kleenex. "So this is just temporary."  
  
"Gesundheit." Phillip thought for a moment, then untangled the blanket from her legs. "Hey, why don't you just sleep in my room tonight?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're never gonna get any sleep down here on the couch, and, believe me, I can sleep anywhere. Besides, your germs are probably all over my room." He grinned.  
  
"Well, they're probably here, too."  
  
"I'll sleep the other way." He pointed to the opposite end of the couch.  
  
Yawning, Liz got up, and he took her place sitting on the couch. Still grinning, he started taking off his shoes.  
  
As he slipped his second sneaker off, he looked up and saw Liz looking at him from the doorway.  
  
"Phillip?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Liz smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Phillip nodded back, and she disappeared around the corner. Maybe Christmas break wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
The End 


	2. First Kiss

**This is basically an addition to 'Home For Chritmas' that a dear friend asked me to write; it takes place approximately a week later.  
  
Three days before Christmas, Amanda and Lee Stetson were in their kitchen, with their youngest son, Matthew, finishing preparations for a family dinner. As Lee tossed the salad and Amanda placed warm rolls in a basket, Phillip came into the room. "When's dinner, Mom?" he asked reaching for a roll.  
  
She gently swatted his hand before he could steal the bread. "In just a minute," she answered. "Call Jamie and Liz. . . "  
  
But Jamie came into the room before she could finish her sentence. "Right here, Mom."  
  
"Great, just go get Liz, then, and we can eat."  
  
Phillip took one step toward the door, stopped and bellowed. "LIZ!"  
  
Amanda was startled, not expecting him to yell so loudly, and Lee chuckled. "Phillip," she admonished him, "I could've done that, go and find her."  
  
Phillip rolled his eyes, put out that he actually had to exert physical effort on behalf of Liz and headed out of the kitchen to try to locate her. But Liz had heard his call, and she was coming into the room just as Phillip was leaving. As usual, he was walking too fast and he nearly ran her over in his departure, causing her to lose her balance. Phillip reached for Liz at the same time she caught his upper arms, to keep from falling over.  
  
"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly.  
  
"It's okay," she answered, looking slightly bewildered.  
  
Phillip held her for a moment, so she could recompose herself. He was about to let her go when Matty started a playful chant. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"  
  
Phillip watched as Liz's eyes widened. He turned to Matty, astonished that such a demand had come out of his little brother's mouth.  
  
"What?" Phillip asked, surprised.  
  
Lee laughed, while Amanda placed her hand over her mouth; Phillip could tell she was trying her best not to laugh. "Lee taught him all about mistletoe today," she explained as she pointed to a spot above their heads. "It's his new favorite game."  
  
Phillip shot an accusing glance toward Lee, but he just shrugged.  
  
"Oh," Phillip turned back to Liz to gauge her reaction, as she hadn't said a word. A tinge of pink had settled on the top of her cheeks; it only made her look more pretty and he was happy to have finally found a situation she didn't seem to know how to handle. But still he hesitated -- it wasn't that he had never thought about kissing Lizzie; he had, but this wasn't one of his daydreams. And though they had been occurring more frequently since their 'talk,' this wasn't a fantasy -- not in the kitchen with the whole family participating.  
  
"Come on, Phillip, we haven't got all day," Lee goaded him, seeming to find the whole thing very amusing.  
  
Phillip swallowed, trying to gather all the courage and confidence he could muster, but as he watched her, her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. His breath hitched in his throat.  
  
Matthew giggled and shouted "Kiss!" again, obviously growing impatient with Phillip's hesitancy.  
  
By now, everyone was staring at them, and waiting. . . there was no way he could back out of this now and hold onto any of his dignity.  
  
Taking a small step forward, he leaned toward her, mesmerized by the intensity of emotion in her pale blue eyes. He hesitated only for a second, then softly pressed his lips to hers. She froze, almost as if she hadn't actually expected him to go all the way, but recovered immediately and pressed back. Surprised, Phillip pulled away. The contact had lasted only for a moment, but Phillip was thoroughly dazed.  
  
The sound of Liz's voice, saying something about her foot, finally snapped him out of it.  
  
"What?" he asked, confused.  
  
The corner of her mouth turned up in an amused smile. "You're standing on my foot," she said again, slower this time.  
  
Phillip looked down. His big shoe was, in fact, right on top of her little bare foot.  
  
"Oh!" He jumped back, embarrassed. Now, he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Even when Liz started out uncomfortable in the situation, she still managed to make him look like stupid.  
  
Bending her knee, she raised her lower leg so she could rub her squished toes.  
  
"Sorry, are you okay?" he asked, sincerely concerned. How was it that Liz always made him feel so. . . incapable?  
  
"Yeah," she smiled graciously. "I'm fine."  
  
"Good. . . "  
  
The room filled with an awkward silence. "Well," Lee clapped his hands, "who's ready to eat?"  
  
Phillip let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding, grateful for the change in subject. "I'm starved," he said turning from Liz and leaving her in the doorway alone.  
  
But as he walked past Lee, Lee patted his arm and smiled. "Real smooth, pal," he said quietly.  
  
Phillip did his best to ignore his stepfather's teasing. If only he could keep that kiss out of his mind, he could pretend it hadn't affected him the way it did.  
  
The End 


End file.
